ScreenToaster has just released the following press release regarding its FREE online “screen recorder”:

“ScreenToaster officially released today three key functionalities strengthening its position as the easiest and fastest tool to record, publish and spread tutorials, demos, training, lectures and more.

2. Download in .mov for video editing
Benefit from third party video editing tools to rework your videosAudio now supported for downloaded files

3. Beta Test our recorder APILet your users publish videos directly on your blog, forum, website or extranet.Ideal for collaborative projects, professional tutorials, users’ support and feedback management, bug tracking and reporting.
At every step of the process, ScreenToaster reduces the time it takes to create and distribute your videos online.Imagine how fast it is to capture your screen activity directly from your browser, upload it in seconds online to YouTube.com and ScreenToaster.com, stream it the minute after, and then use Twitter and other social networks to pass the word.

“Screencast-o-matic will allow you to record your screen movements and coordinating audio and save it as a video which can be embedded in your Web site or exported as a Quicktime movie file. The great thing is that it can do all this without the need to install any software. Granted, it doesn’t have a lot of the features of some of the purchasable software but it gets the job done when you want to show some basic directions. “

You may have a great idea bouncing around in your head. It may be something that could revolutionize the company that you work for, or even change your own career. But if you can’t find a way to get that idea out and in front of others, you and it will be forever stuck. The key is to have the ability and the courage to get up in front of a room—full of your friends, your peers or your bosses—and tell them what you know. Once you are able to speak your passion, you can pass it along to others and begin to make a difference.

Perhaps you are just plagued by shyness, like I was way back in the seventh grade, when everyone was getting called to the front of the classroom for the spelling bee. Gulp! That was my worst nightmare! But as I grew up, I learned more and more ways to speak effectively. These days, I speak all over the world many times a week. But getting there wasn’t easy. Today, I’ll share with you some of the ways you can work on your own to become a dynamite presenter…

Strength in numbers: When you are first starting out learning to present, you’ll find great feedback by joining a speaking club. It may sound old-fashioned, but a place like Toastmasters or a professional group like the National Speaker’s Association can help you hear from the best and get feedback and ideas on how you can be more effective.

Get involved: If you are in a club, you will be around people with common interests. That comfort level with your audience and your topic will put you in the state of comfort you need to be in with all presentations. The sooner we can pretend we are just talking to a bunch of our peers, the better. Years ago, one of my mentors actually suggested that when I present a seminar, I imagine we are all just hangin’ out in my living room and I am just telling stories about what I know.

Record yourself: Nothing quite humbles you like seeing yourself on video or hearing yourself recorded. Go ahead and practice your presentation. Only when you have something you are comfortable sharing, bring someone else into the screening. Let them watch you, and press pause every five minutes or so. Resist the temptation to press pause each time you see something good or bad. Instead, go for a predetermined amount of time, and then discuss the feedback that is general about what you both saw. For an audio recording, download it to an iPod so you can listen to yourself on the way to your presentation and work out any kinks you may hear.

Read: What are other presenters in your field reading/recommending? Find out what is hot, and what is not. I ask people for the one book that stands out in their mind as having the greatest impact on their development, learning, and training. If you are presenting on a specific industry, catch up with one of their journals. Also, magazines like Professional Speaker and Business Traveler are wonderful sources for new ideas and suggestions. The thing I like about magazines is they arrive monthly, I read them when I have time, and I only commit to reading at least one (and sometimes only one) article in the whole issue.

Build and maintain a weblog: You get a chance to work on your writing, express you passion and your thoughts. Knowing there is someone (even a friend or family member) interested in what I am writing makes me want to get out there and write some more. It’s an exercise in consistency.

Watch a terrible presenter: There are some brilliant people out there who cannot present. To see someone who obviously knows their topic get in front and not hold an audience is more than disappointing, sometimes it is painful. Someone who continues to stand up and not look for ways to grow, learn, expand, and evolve—well, I want to watch them. There is bound to be something I will take away.

Set a goal: Start every day with a goal. Do you want to knock everyone’s socks off with a great speech? Say it to yourself and think about the steps between your first choices in the morning to the afterglow following a great presentation. Line yourself up for success…”

“There are some people who dislike PowerPoint presentations and claim that things would be better if presenters only used better software, like; Keynote, SlideRocket or Impress. Well maybe it’s not the software, but the presenter flying the software. Consider these presentational methodologies before your next presentation.

The long bulleted list, complete with complete sentences that are read directly from the screen by the presenter and all viewers in the room. The bane of every audience but the easiest to create. Sort of like brain vomit on a particular topic, it’s all there, but nobody really enjoys it. Even animating the bullets does not make it better.

The “Lessig Method“,attributed to Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig. Think of it as less ig better. Each slide may have one or two words or a single picture getting the point across. A 10 minute presentation could have 100 slides. Enjoyable by the audience a lot of work to create and do well. Practice is required as there is little to cue the mouth of the presenter and “ah, um, hmm, huh” doesn’t make for a smooth presentation.

In ‘Pecha Kucha’ you have 6 minutes 40 seconds to present your entire presentation of 20, 20 second slides. Created in 2004 by Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, Pecha Kucha is both art form and presentational competition. Check here to find the nearest 日本語 night in a city near you.

The ‘Lightning Talk‘ is a fast paced 5 minute presentation allowing a lot of topics to be covered in a short meeting time. You can spend several hours preparing a good 5 minute lightning talk because there is no time for ‘ah, um, hmm, huh’ before the timer signals the end. For the presenter, the timer starts and ready or not, off you go. For the audience, the presentation may be terrible or great, but it is over in 5 minutes.

So somewhere between reading alot of text to an audience sitting in a darkened room and woa, 5 minutes is up already, take the time to create an interesting presentation that uses (not abuses) the multimedia abilities of your computer. Remember to practice and have fun, your audience will appreciate the extra effort.”